Kellogg’s seeks water self-supply licence for Manchester operations

Food manufacturing giant Kellogg's has applied for a water and sewerage self-supply license for its Manchester facility, in a bid to gain greater control on water usage and generate savings.


Kellogg’s seeks water self-supply licence for Manchester operations

Kellogg's has committed to reducing water usage by 15% against a 2015 baseline

Kellogg’s has appointed water management firm Waterscan to take on the company’s water retail functions at the Manchester manufacturing facility, Kellogg’s largest European operation.

Once Ofwat has completed due diligence on the licence application, Kellogg’s and Waterscan will have more control over decisions such as trade effluent discharge. The decision also means Kellogg’s can pay wholesale prices, thus generating savings.

Kellogg’s Manchester plant director Paul Wrigley said: “After looking at our options, we decided that having a water self-supply licence will help us meet our water reduction targets faster as we will have complete control over and trust in our data. It is important to us that we work with the Waterscan team of experts through the self-supply process. The company’s innovative and forward-thinking approach is very similar to our own company values.”

As a food manufacturer, Kellogg’s has existing goals relating to water stewardship in place. The company has committed to reducing water usage by 15% against a 2015 baseline. In order to reach the 15% reduction, the company has vowed to introduce water recycling projects across 25% of its plants. Between 2005 and 2015, the company reduced its water use by 10%.

More recently, Kellogg unveiled a raft of new sustainable packaging commitments, including the introduction of easily recyclable cereal pouches and a recycling solution for Pringles cans.

Waterscan’s managing director Neil Pendle, said: “We’re very proud to be partnering with Kellogg’s, a leading sustainability motivated business. With water such a big focus and something the company is proactively committed to managing at all times, we are confident that working together with Kellogg’s to self-supply will build on the success of its water management programme to date.”

“We were delighted to welcome the Kellogg’s team to our most recent Self-Supply User Forum where they were able to meet and learn from industry peers and build dialogue with key water market participants. We very much hope that Kellogg’s will continue to represent the food manufacturing sector in this unique setting to help drive further positive impacts for water customers.”

Self-supply

More companies are switching to self-supply to better manage their water use, since the water retail market opened in April 2017.

Ofwat has granted licences to Greene King, Whitbread, Marston’s Coca Cola European Partners, BT and Heineken amongst others. Greene King revealed that the switch to self-supply had enabled the company to reduce its water footprint by more than 140,000m3 since April 2017. Daily, Greene King has realised 384.32m3 in consumption savings – the equivalent of 676,313 pints.

Four hospitality giants (Greene King, Whitbread, Marston’s and Stonegate Pub Company) have together saved 392,315m3 since they switched to self-supply – the equivalent of more than 690 million pints.

Matt Mace

Action inspires action. Stay ahead of the curve with sustainability and energy newsletters from edie

Subscribe